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The Oscars

So this weekend brings the biiiiig event that everyone in the film industry is always in a tizzy about: The Academy Awards. The Oscars. THE BIG CHEESE.

…Okay, nobody actually calls it that last one. But you get the picture!

Lionsgate has only two films in the race with 4 nominations total: Excellent drug thriller Sicario and familu fun animation Shaun and the Sheep. That’s all. And frankly, it’s from lack of trying. You see, these films were reportedly the only ones even brought forward for consideration.

Look, we’re realists. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 was sure as hell not going to be nominated for Best Picture. WE KNOW THIS. Additionally, Lionsgate’s 2015 line-up was pretty lousy overall. It was absolutely not their year.

But are we saying that The Hunger Games franchise has NO technical value? The costumes! The make-up! Effects and set design! While we don’t know if the film would win, we’d say the technical aspects are nomination worthy. Or at least worthy of freaking consideration for a nomination! C’mon now!

Yes, the film industry didn’t take movies featuring teen main characters and geared toward younger audiences seriously, they really don’t take anything with a fandom seriously. But are they really ever going to if nobody even bothers advertising their eligibility for contention? Did Lionsgate just give up on the biggest and best franchise they’ve had since… possibly ever… at the final bell?

Really, it’s a shame. It feels like the studio is doubt the value of one its biggest successes in recent years, and from a fan’s perspective, that’s pretty heartbreaking.

Last night was the Oscars, and Julianne Moore won for her role in Still Alice! She’s been nominated a few times, but this is her first win. Woo, make that 3 academy award winning actors in the Mockingjay movies.

While Mockingjay Part 1 had no nominations, it was there in spirit right from the opening number, with Katniss pictured among other cinematic heroines as “small town girls who change the world by challenging the norm.” Yes, oh yes. Well done on that one, Oscars.

Josh Hutcherson was also a presenter, and he did a fine job of speaking and walking and not falling. (We’re not belittling this, when you know a billion or so people of watching, doing all those things is fairly impressive). Host Neil Patrick Harris introduced him as “the Pe(e)ta who won’t throw paint at you” and we love the THG reference, and the Hanging Tree music that accompanied his walk to the stage.

It’s fitting that Josh was a part of the ceremony, because the last time he was at the Oscars was when The Kids are All Right, the movie where he played Julianne’s Moore’s son, was nominated.

We’re dying a little from the cuteness.

During red carpet interviews, we also got confirmation that yes, Josh will be shooting some final (epilogue) scenes later in the year. So breathe a sigh of relief, it looks like there will be no completely unexpected/crazy/insane plot twist where they kill off Peeta in the end (UNLESS THEY DO IT IN THE EPILOGUE!).

Tomorrow is the Academy Awards, aka the Oscars and lo, nothing Hunger Games was nominated! That means one thing, right? Yup– we don’t have to watch! I’m imagining that crickets are sounding across the interwebz now. Sorry folks! I mean yes watch, tune in, make fake ballots, and themed mocktails, and cocktails to your hearts content, while you watch pretty people, and more pretty people traipse a red carpet in the Los Angeles sunshine, then read out loud from teleprompters like feeble, farsighted, novices! It’ll be a gas and

I think she’s gonna win

a half!

There’s something very Capitol about the Oscars, no? Because when push comes to shove characters like Caesar Flickerman, and the style teams, are just morphed versions of the Fashion Police on the E! Network, or Ryan Seacrest, whom I think still hosts American Idol– but I’m not sure, ’cause I’ve never watched the show in my life. American Idol that is, I have watched the Oscars numerous times.

Tomorrow, however since The Hunger Games is yet again not recognized by the Academy for its feats in film making, we’re going to have to suffice with rooting for Julianne Moore for her work in the film Still Alice, as well as crossing our fingers, toes, and eyes that Josh walks across that stage without tripping, fumbling, or having his presenting partner be a foot taller than him!
Tune in at your own discretion everyone! I for one will sparingly do so, and the entire time I’ll be pretending that Boyhood is really about Peeta.

This year’s Oscars ceremony is less than two weeks away. We’re pulling for Julianne Moore to take home her first Oscar for her role in Still Alice. She’s won a lot of the other Best Actress awards this season, so things are looking good, but there are always surprises. No surprises in this category, ok Academy? Julianne for the win!

Please excuse the excitement, but it’s somewhat of a rare occurrence for him, or any man for that matter. It’s special attire. Why not dress up to the max, though? Being asked to present is a big honor, but very stressful as well. Even for the most comfortable of public speakers, there’s the massive pressure of having to speak in front of an audience of about 1 BILLION people worldwide. So just… enjoy it, you’ve earned it, Josh.

Another part of the whole Oscar presenter gig is the requisite Red Carpet gauntlet. That means talking to lots of Caesar Flickermans about that tux you are wearing and answering obvious questions like, “Does presenting make you nervous?” Dear Ryan Seacrest, please see the paragraph above and avoid that question. Instead, may I suggest you ask him if he has any additional (ie final) scenes to film for Mockingjay so we can put that speculation to rest?

There’s a lot of us bumming out because Jennifer Lawrence didn’t win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in American Hustle. The award went to Lupita Nyong’o from 12 Years A Slave, who gave a really wonderful, stirring acceptance speech. Shortly after, Twitter broke. The world had THAT many Oscar feels just then.

Get it, gurl!

While we’re a bit bummed, Lupita also gave a stunning performance and either way, it’s not the end of the world. In case you’re hopes are so squashed that you’re forgetting that, here’s why:

1) No one’s career is over.
Nothing is ever decided by an Oscar win. As much as everyone wants to win, it won’t ruin careers. Hell, there are some great movies and performances that don’t even get nominated. Despite not winning, she got herself a huge recognition. She’s got plenty of roles lined up. She’ll still get all sorts of movie offers after this. So why are people worried again?

2) Jennifer Lawrence is still Jenny from the… stables?
She grew up with horses, right? We’re not just making the up? ANYWAY, losing out this year won’t make her less perky or less lovable. It certainly won’t make any any less talented! And she’s still Katniss. Freaking. Everdeen. We just can’t see a thing like this sucking the life out of her. Girl knows a thing or two about real life priorities, from what we’ve seen.
3) Other movies.
East of Eden, anyone? How about rumors of another with David O. Russell (who comes off as somewhat creepily obsessed with her, but WHATEV)? Those will probably get some love from the awards world. And frankly, we don’t need all her films to be Oscar nominated. We will see them anyway.

4) We still got to see Jen looking fab on the red carpet.
Damn, that girl can rock a dress AND a hairstyle that’s questionable on most people!

So rock the good vibes, Jen! You’ve earned ’em, girl! Don’t mind any downers, we’re just busy living vicariously through movie stars.

This is going to come as a shock to pretty much every single Hunger Games fan on the planet, but I do not want Jennifer Lawrence to win at the Oscars tomorrow night. Yeah, throw tomatoes, or bags of dog poo at me (I’d prefer tomatoes, thank you), but I think I have a good reason for not wanting her to win, or perhaps more than one reason.

Reason number one: I don’t want any more Jennifer Lawrence hate flooding the Internets at large. See, in our sick, twisted, stupid, and fucked up society, we tend to really, really, really, really like to kick people when they’re at a high point. Example: Remember when everyone loved Anne Hathaway, or at least liked her acting, and mostly tolerated her perkiness, and her eager to

Yeah… I think we’ll keep her.

please attitude? Yeah, well– have you seen much of Anne Hathaway lately? I’ll answer that question for you. NOPE! She’s been working, true– but she’s had one of the lowest public profiles since her breakthrough role in 2001. And do you know why she’s been so low-key lately? Welp, because the media, and the Internets started becoming an all out hate mongering death trap for her. Jen’s different though, talent wise she’s on par with Hathaway, because come on– even if you don’t like Hathaway you cannot deny that the woman is talented at her craft. However, where Jen and her differ greatly is their all out public persona. Jen’s kind of no-nonsense, quirky, and unapologetic for her inability to conform. Hathaway, um– yeah, she’s kind of a bit of a conformist, a bit faux, and kinda sorta a priss. Seriously, I don’t think we’ll ever see Hathaway making the faces that Jen does, which is okay– Jen’s doin’ her thang, and I will never not enjoy her weird. But Anne, even after all the praise, and the awards, and the hard work she put in, she got a hate storm of epic proportions thrown at her after she won, and was nominated for everything under the sun, and she got that storm thrown at her because she was doing well, and people got tired of her doing well. I do not want that to happen to Jen, therefore even though I do think that her performance in American Hustle was commendable, in full disclosure mode– I

Sunday, be there or be square

don’t think it’s her year.

Which brings me to my second reason: Lupita Nyong’o– her performance in 12 Years a Slave is earth shatteringly good, actually everyone’s performance in 12 Years a Slave is more than good, all the way down to Garret Dillahunt, and one of my personal favorite character actors, Paul Dano. You know how there are films that just deserve to be recognized because they go places that have never been gone to before? For example Philadelphia, or Midnight Cowboy, 12 Years a Slave is like those films and the performances are above board, and without qualms, or mercy, or affectedness– American Hustle, and Jennifer Lawrence– I can’t with a clear conscience say that either has those same facets in my opinion.

Every now and again, we like to pretend we’re super fashionable. It’s not a real thing (at least for this gal), but it’s good to pretend. And with Jennifer Lawrence hitting the Academy Awards red carpet this weekend, that part of our brain thinks “What is she going to wear?!”

In case you missed it, Jen will be wearing Dior on the red carpet this year. Probably next year too. Why? Because Dior is paying her roughly a gajillion dollars to be their representative and wear only their stuff. To which we say “GET IT, GURL.” Though it’s a shame they decided to make her look like a 12-year-old boy in the most recent round of ads, because the typical Photoshop abuse wasn’t bad enough.

ANYWAY… The Dior connection helps us narrow down her potential look!

Unfortunately, we weren’t exactly thrilled with what Dior has shown the world this year. The Spring Couture collection involved puffy fits and eyelets, making the collection look like a mesh basket had a baby with a shower curtain. Though not all of it is awful, it’s not our favorite. Observe one of the better pieces from the bunch:

Different? Sure! Red carpet?Uhhhh… no thanks.

There’s also the “ready to wear” Spring/Summer collection, which is too informal for The Academy, but there’s room for inspiration in there. In this line, there’s lots of bunchy fabrics, funky designs, and cutouts. To the not so fashionable or au couture inclined (aka ME!), these styles are a little more bearable. Yet they’re borderline tacky and seem more likely to be worn by a prom date than an actress up for a prestigious honor:

Thankfully, we’re likely to see Jen in a CUSTOM number. Dior wouldn’t do that for every event (as evidenced by Jen wearing several designs that have been seen on the runway in the past), but we’re talking about the freaking Oscars. It could be a completely different look from these two most recent collections, but we’re imagining an intermingling.

Jen’s been very muted and plain– style-wise!— this awards season, so it would be nice to see her in some color. Something that makes her look like she’s in her 20s and not her 60s, because stuff that ages up young stars too much will forever drive us crazy. Jennifer Lawrence is not plain and shouldn’t dress that way, either!

We can’t all have a stellar fashion streak like Lupita Nyong’o did this year, but Jen’s looked fabulous and has the potential to wear something kickass. Just go for form fitting. And avoid the cheesecloth look. And be perfect. IS THAT SO HARD, DIOR?!

Living Vicariously Through Total Strangers Since FOREVER,The Girl With The Pearl

We always have high apple pie in the sky hopes for The Hunger Games franchise, but we know that Catching Fire wasn’t going to get a shot at anything but technical awards, thanks to that “We don’t recognize anything that’s popular with the peasants” Academy attitude we’ve discussed before.

So you can imagine our reaction as we read down that list of nominees…

*scanning the acting categories*

JENNIFER LAWRENCE GOT NOMINATED FOR AMERICAN HUSTLE! AYYYYYYYYY!

Admission: We haven’t actual seen American Hustle yet. We’ve heard from others that Jen was fantastic, though the movie on the whole was a bit overrated. So YAY J-LAW!

We knew it would be the coldest day in hell when the Academy considered any actor for their role in a fantasy blockbuster aimed at young adults, even ones they love like Jen, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Stanley Tucci. Thus we’ll take little victories like actors we love getting nominated for other things.

And then…*scanning the technical categories*

Bad Grandpa? The Lone Ranger… TWICE?! We don’t know what Disney is putting in that Academy kool-aid but DAMN, it must be powerful! But wait… No Catching Fire?!

What the actual fuck?

Let’s talk costumes. Many media outlets have repeatedly discussed the possibility of Catching Fire winning the Academy Award in this category as if the nomination itself was a no-brainer. And they’re right! Trish Summerville created a showcase of brilliantly crafted designs that not only looked spectacular on film, but told the story of each individual character. The intricate detail is honestly some of the most impressive costume design we’ve ever seen. Instead, pretty but same-y era movies got the recognition instead.

How about makeup and hairstyling? Are they really giving a nomination to The Lone Ranger for throwing sloppy face paint on Johnny Depp and Jackass for making Johnny Knoxville look geriatric? Yet the outrageous Capitol hair and makeup is totally overlooked! Then again, these are the same people who said the makeup that made Meryl Streep look like Margaret Thatcher was more award-worthy than the hundreds of intricate, unique designs found in the seventh Harry Potter film.

A small part of me wonders if Capitol Couture marketing hype, including the push into clothing and makeup sales (even going back to the nail polish line for the first film) , put a bad taste in the mouths of prominent Hollywood voters. Or maybe they don’t like that the style kinda mocks them. Who knows?

Don’t even get us started on visual effects! We’re glad Peter Jackson’s WETA got nominated for Desolation of Smaug, their work alongside the rest of the FX team on Catching Fire should also get recognition over most of the films actually nominated, which probably featured MORE special effects, but not necessarily effects of the same quality.

Alas, we should just accept that we’re talking about a bunch of old white guys making picks based off studio politics and this year, there was even less variety than usual. They stuck to their faves and they stuck to them HARD. Too bad it makes them look like total asses.

Booya y’all! I mean, didn’t you hear, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has officially, and I mean officially made an ass ton of money, and yes m’dears… we are in part to, well, um blame for that? Perhaps blame is the wrong word to use, but I’m gonna use it, ’cause I think it makes this post sound punchy! It’s true though, even I can attest to having seen Catching Fire in a theatre more than once, and two of those times I paid with cold hard cash money, or my debit card, whatever, and the other time I paid in tears, ALL THE TEARS, I’m talking about going to the LA premiere people! Anyway, it was made official this week that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire not only made an ass ton of money, but it is to date the highest grossing film of the fiscal year.

So, what do we do with that knowledge? Do we throw a party, buy a cheap bottle of Champagne, which is actually Brut, because real Champagne only comes from Champagne, France– or perhaps it’s actually Prosecco, which gets you tipsy just as quicker anyway! Oh, yeah what are we doing again? Ah yes, throwing a party for Catching Fire doing exactly what a whole bunch of us said it would do more than a year ago, and that is make tons and tons, and tons of money! I feel like I should be tossing hundred-dollar bills in the air, doing my best Jordan Belfort as interpreted by Leo DiCaprio and Marty Scorsese, and possibly objectifying some women, and doing so much blow that I crash a helicopter and don’t even care! Alas, I cannot do that, because I really don’t want to, and all I’d rather do is have Catching Fire do more than make money, and what is is that I wish it would do? Well, win awards, yo!

What kind of awards though? Well, as covered by The Girl With The Pearl The Magical Internet Pony awards are likely in the bag for the franchise. We do have a rather large fandom, and I’ll bet money that any number of them would gladly sit around clicking “vote! vote! vote” for probably all of those pony giving out awards shows. However, because I’m sadly living in the dark ages, and I am secretly an old white man, I wish Catching Fire would get nominated for, and win awards at such serious non-pony related awards shows like, the big one, the Academy Awards. But I think we all know that that’s not going to happen, at least not in the categories that your average citizen cares all that much about. Me, I’ll be hell-a proud if the sound editors, and the sound mixers, the visual affects team, Trish Summerville and Ve Neill and co get nominated, perhaps Coldplay will get recognized for Atlas, or maybe just maybe Jo Willems will be nominated for his work as the director of photography. All of the above would make me happy, but will it happen? I unfortunately doubt it.

Oscar nominations will be announced Thursday the 16th, so stay frosty! Crossing fingers, toes, and eyes for the technical awards! And who the hell knows, maybe Mockingjay Part One and Two will be like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King? Saving the best for last so to speak, and finally getting the recognition for the series that it wholly deserves.

Sometimes you ask for guest posts, sometimes they fall into your lap as a gift from devoted readers! The following falls in the latter category, brought to us by the ever enthusiastic mse! Enjoy!
_______________

Still prettier than my own handwriting

I’m a huge Coldplay geek in addition to being an enthusiastic Tribute, and I know I’m not alone. I’m not gonna use words like ‘OMG I’m the biggest fan of the band ever’ because yeah, I don’t even have an authentic lyric sheet handwritten by Chris Martin and we all know that that’s the only sign of a true fan – well that and the ability to rotate air. Alas as it turns out you can become one now by entering this contest here, so good luck! Tell me when you learned how to ventilate so I can give you a call on a warmer than usual autumn day.

Back to our topic, as you can guess I was obviously very excited when I learned that Coldplay is going to contribute to the Catching Fire soundtrack, and was eagerly anticipating the release of the song. By that time we already had the lyrics Chris shared via Twitter and we all brushed up on our Greek mythology and knew that the title ‘Atlas’ referred to the Titan who was sentenced to literally carry the world on his shoulders. But we still needed the song itself to truly appreciate the power of that metaphor , and as it turns out, we also needed a beautifully designed lyrics video to get fully obsessed.

I know that saying that this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen is a gross overreaction but guys, THIS IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING THAT I’VE SEEN. EVER.

Okay, so let’s first talk about the song itself. Now, this is probably going to be a subjective opinion, but I totally had a flashback of the Coldplay’s first album, Parachutes while listening to it. For those of you who are not as obsessed with the band as the rest of us, here’s some recap:

Coldplay had 5 big studio albums out in the last 13 years, and while they all had a very Coldplay-ish sound, they also had their distinguished characteristics that made the songs on a specific album stand out and separate them from the music on any of the others.

For example A Rush Of Blood To The Head had this very clean, sleek sound with lots of piano. That album probably also has the most memorable melodies, because the songs were just simply great – the intro to Clocks is possibly the most recognizable Coldplay melody ever, even though it really is nothing special from a musical stand point (although it might make your hands pretty sore by the end if you attempt to actually play it on your piano at home, especially if you have such a horrible wrist movement like me). On the other hand, Viva la Vida or Death and All Of His Friends was this epic journey that I personally like to refer to as the “Coldplay opera” . There’s a very complex sonority to it, the songs don’t always follow a typical structure, and this is that one album that you feel like you just have to listen to from beginning to end.

Atlas however… Atlas feels like modern day Coldplay Parachutes song to me. There’s a bit of back to basic feel to it, yes, but that’s not just it. Parachutes was a very early album for the band, they didn’t use a whole lot of fancy electronic stuff back then, but there was also some naivety and some interesting dissonant melodies which you might notice in Atlas as well. Basically: Parachutes is the angsty teenager of Coldplay albums. Or at least as angsty and teenagery as Coldplay can get.

Seriously, even the art work looks like a frickin atlas!

Now, I’m not saying that Atlas is a definite addition to that album, and there’s a lot of maturity and a more modern sound in this song. Actually I’d say that it’s more like a blend between Parachutes and Viva la Vida, which also had a revolutionary theme beside all the things I mentioned before. And now that I think about it, it might actually be more of a Viva la Vida song after all. But the dissonance in that piano melody gives it a sense of unrest, there’s a clear underlying anxiety – until the chorus resolves it all by promising that it’ll ‘carry your world’ and also ‘all your hurt’.

I also think that this structure, the way the song makes a translation from angsty to something more hopeful and uplifting, makes Atlas a perfect first credits song. I’m mentioning this not just because the choice of a first credits song is important in the sense that it contributes to the whole impression a movie has left on you – but because in addition to being a Coldplay geek and a Hunger Games fan I’m also someone who’s very interested in movie awards and Oscars and all that jazz.

Of course you might ask now, what does this all has to do with the Oscars? Here’s the thing: some of the most prestigious film award ceremonies have a category called “Original Song” to them, however the definition of what can be considered part of that is kind of fuzzy. The Globes are more flexible with all this as you can expect, however the Oscars have this crazy rule that only songs that were playing during the movie or as a first credit song can contend. RUDE! That means if I put 51 songs at the end of my movie only one of those will be considered. Pfft! (This is also the reason why Safe & Sound was never going to get an Original Song nomination at the Oscars, in case you didn’t know.)

So yep, Atlas being the first credits song and the song of a universally well-liked popular band and this being their first ever contribution to a movie’s soundtrack increases the chances for an Academy Award shout out about 500%.

“But… why do we always have to bring up the Oscars?” I’m sorry, but this is what happens when your lead actor is an effing double Oscar nominee and a fresh Best Actress winner. People are probably gonna talk about the movie’s Oscar chances in costumes and hair and make-up and visuals and music and all that as we approach award season, so get used to it. And wouldn’t it be just plain cool to read the words “Nominated for X Oscars” on Catching Fire’s IMDb page? Don’t lie to me, you wanna see that just as much as I do.

I gasped.

Before I’d finish this up, we need to talk about that lyrics video though. Because that is just abso-freaking-lutely STUNNING. That’s not just a lyrics video guys, that qualifies as an actual music video if you ask me, and those animations… Wow. It’s simple but effective, and the whole constellation concept is really clever, because obviously there’s no cooler archery symbol than the Sagittarius itself, but it also gives off a sort of mythologic vibe which is obviously a reference to the lyrics themselves and the inspiration behind them.

I also spent a lot of time thinking about the meaning behind the 7 lines that start off and finish the video, and I’m kind of convinced that it refers to the 7 members of Peeta and Katniss’ alliance: Finnick, Mags, Beetee, Wiress, Johanna and Katniss and Peeta themselves. Of course that doesn’t include people like Woof or even the morphlings who were obviously supposed to have been part of that alliance but I stand by my theory.

Now excuse me, but I gotta get back to listening to this song for the 1002th time,E(m)e(s)e